The Strange Wonders of Roots
by Evan Griffith
Intermediate, Middle School    Quill Tree/HarperCollins    304 pp.
5/24    9780063287969    $19.99
e-book ed.  9780063287983    $9.99

In the five years since her parents divorced, twelve-year-old Holly has lived in and visited lots of places with her actor father; she is used to not feeling rooted in any one spot. Now her father has flown off to San Francisco for his “big break” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream while Holly goes to Burlington, Vermont, “a city she’d never heard of in a state she’d never been to,” to stay with her uncle Vincent for a month. Holly hasn’t seen him since three Christmases ago, but she remembers a lot about him: he’s gay; is a year younger than her father; lives alone in a small town outside Burlington; and runs a bookstore, where he is “drowning in books.” The beautiful cover illustration and even Holly’s name refer to her love of plants, and the metaphor will not be lost on readers: Holly yearns for roots in her life, and Uncle Vincent and his community just might be the ones to help. And, sure enough, she does find much of what she’s looking for. Holly is a well-drawn, likable protagonist dropped into a New England setting, where she thrives. A gentle, uplifting, and memorable story.

From the July/August 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.